Peanuts and some Fashion

I have always been a fan of all the dried snacks which can be made and stored for several weeks. I like them for the fact that I feel less guilty munching on them than the store bought. They are most handy on festivals, when you have guests coming on and off. One of such thing I made for the guests visiting at my place was Besan ki Mungfali.

Besan ki Mungfali.

Ingredients:

200 gm Mungfali / Peanuts
250 gm Besan / Gramflour
2 tsp Red Chilli Powder
1 tsp Dried Mango Powder
Oil to Deep Fry
Salt to taste

For Masala:
1 T Oil
2 tsp Red Chilli POwder
1 tsp Black Pepper Powder
2 tsp Chaat Masala
1 tsp Dried Mango Powder

Wash the Peanuts under running water in a colander. Remove it onto a plate and sprinkle 2-3 T Besan on it and mix using a spoon. Once done sprinkle some more Besan and little water, enough only to coat the Besan over the peanuts. Extra water will make the peanuts stick to each other, that is not desired. Repeat it till all the Besan is used.

In a wok heat the oil and drop the Besan coated Peanuts in the oil using a Spatula. Fry till golden brown. Remove on a paper towel.

To spice it further, heat 1 T Oil in a wok, add all the masalas and add the fried Mungfalis. Roast till all the masala has been coated on the Peanuts. Store it in an airtight container once cooled.



Yesterday I caught on Fashion. Though the movie was realeased over Diwali...but this is not your typical Diwali movie. Probably Golmaal would have been my choice too for a Diwali movie, only if it wasn't for some of the crap movies I have been watching lately. As I was sure that Fashion would have some content while Golmaal Returns (Sequel to Golamaal) could go eitherways, though I had loved Golmaaal.

Fashion does show some of the truths behind the Ramp, but doesnt reveal as much s Page 3 had. The ones that are shown are the ones viewer is already aware of, is the biggest weakness of Fashion. This is out and out Pryanka Chopra's film. She narrates her story from an ordinary girl to a Supermodel. Priyanka shines like never before. After 6 flops ths one is a breather . This is got to be her best performance till date.

One of the best thing about this movie is the wondeful supporting cast. Everybody leaves you spell bound. Mugdha Godse is terrific in her first movie. Kangana is wonderful, but we have seen her do the same thing over and over again, I would really like her to do something different now. The surprise packge is Arbaaz khan, he fits to the T in a serious role. Kitu Gidwani is very good in her role.

Problem with Fashion is its length...nearly 3 hours long gets on to you when the movie is quite predictable. Fashion doesnt reveal as much as Madhur's film promise to. Its still definitely a good watch.

Moong Ke Mangode

Rain Gods have smiled over Chennai and its raining, raining hard. A li'l rain itself can flood many parts of Chennai, and this is heavy rains I am speaking of. The main road in front of my office was below knee length water and getting out of the place seemed like a herculean task. The Times of India symbolized this beautifully in their next day’s edition:


One thing Chennai's rain always does, even if it rains for a couple of hours, confine you to the place you are at, coz of the flooding that happens. To make the most of it, I normally setup the chairs in the balcony and plant myself with a plate of something fried and a hot cup of tea. It was Mangode made with Green moong we relished this time with some green chutney.

Mangode

Ingredients:
150 gm Whole Green Moong
3 Potatoes
2 Green chillies
2 tsp Red chilli powder
Salt to taste
Oil to deep fry

Soak the Moong for 4-5 hours and grind to a thick paste along with a green chilli. Add salt, red chili powder and finely chopped green chilli to it. Mix well. Peel and dice the potatoes separately into cubes.


In a wok heat the oil. Add the potatoes to the Moong paste and mix well. When the oil is hot enough for frying, with your hands or with a spoon, drop little by little of this mix into the oil. Fry till brown. Enjoy this with green chutney.


They are a good combination between bread slices with some chutney and salted curd sprinkled on them.



I am sending this to FIC: BROWN event hosted by SunshineMom of Tongue Ticklers



Looking out for something more to relish in monsoons:
Onion Pakodas
Paneer Tikka Sandwich
Bread Upma

Leftover Bread Dilemma

One thing always concerns me after relishing dahi idli ...what to do of all the edges that are cut off from the bread while making it?

Most often than not I roast the bread with tomato gravy which we at home call 'Bhuni Bread'. Occasionally I grind it after drying it in Sun to use as bread crumbs or bake it to use in Tomato Soup.
How do you use up your leftover bread?

Bhuni Bread

Ingredients:

5 Bread slices / Leftover bread from Dahi Idli
1 Tomato
1 T Oil
Pinch of Asafetida
½ tsp Mustard
1 Green chilly Chopped
1 tsp Chilli Powder
½ tsp Turmeric
Salt to taste
Coriander to Garnish

Break the bread into several pieces. Heat the oil in a wok and add mustard to it. Let it splutter and add hing and green chillies. To it add the Chilli, turmeric, salt and mix. Add the Tomatoes and sauté till the oil just starts to separate. Add the bread and mix well till it is coated with the tomato mix. Cook till it is a little roasted. Mix the finely chopped coriander.


Bread edges or leftover Bread used adds a crispness to the dish. While the soft portion of the bread turns soggy when used here.

I am sure Onion and Garlic paste would enhance the taste of this dish...However I still don't use it. Reason being I don't wish to change any dish, that I have learnt from my Mom, a bit. At my home back in Goa...My mom doesn't use Onion and Garlic in any preparation. That at times comes as a surprise to some. But thats the way we make all our dishes. However I do use Onion and garlic at my home but not for my Mom's recipe :)

Last week we chose Drona over Kidnap after much confusion as our Weekend watch. I indeed was happy after the not-so-good reviews Kidnap received, while it was a mixed bag for Drona.
DRONA primarily is a mythological film, set in today's time. For a mythological film to work it needs to involve you in, from the very beginning which drona fails miserably. Reason being several things left unexplained in the film, as a viewer you don’t feel excited about anything related to Drona being unfolded on screen. Without sounding too harsh I can say that there are high chances of one enjoying the mythological soaps telecast on TV than this movie.

The film borrows a lot from Harry potter but fails miserably. The animation is bad...something Hollywood did several years ago we are still struggling with.

As for the actors...Abhishek disappointed the most with Drona...You see him moving around with an angry face. He for once never looks the part for me. Kay kay came across as a very scary in his first scene...I had my eyes covered. But then on he disappoints.Priyanka is plain average. I wonder why she would be running around with her long flowing dresses when her job is to protect the savior of the world.

This is supposed to be a movie about a man with superpowers... But you never, even for a second can believe that the guy on the screen possesses any super powers what so ever.

Now something that never bothered me so much than in this movie, were the props used. Drona’s costume looked borrowed from some cheap theatre group with some motif work on it. One important prop used was a conch shell which when blown will open the doors to the place where the Amrit lies...Can u imagine that was painted in bright Purple and decorated all over with the sequin bindi stickers. Ditto was with the box hidden in the desert that stored this conch shell, so was the case with the hidden city of secret..decorated all over with sequins... I wonder if they bought the sequins in dozens.

Is Drona good for anything? Yes, it is. Its a good place to catch up with your old friend and chit chat for a couple of hours.

Director Goldie Behl has left the film well open for a sequel...and has in his recent interview confirmed that he indeed would go ahead with the sequel.


I had to share this with you'll...During a supposedly intense scene in the desert between Abhishek and Priyanka there was 'Tujhe dekha to yeh jana sanam' in the background...it leaves you with shock only to realize later that it was some body's ring tone in the theater and induces a huge laughter in the background. That was seriously funny.

Playing the guessing game

In my last post I had asked you'll to play a guessing game with me. A few of you did come close. I will come to that a li'l later.

Serving your guest with something they, in most probability, must have not had before, are going to love it and is still so simple to make...clicks with me. Works well even as an evening snack or when served in breakfast.

It is one snack whenever made for any of the guests, they have almost instantly asked for the recipe, men included! The men have always said that they would go back and try it at their home. How much of that really happened...I don't know :)

The dish looks like Idli...is called Idli..but definitely is not one.

This recipe is called DAHI IDLI / BREAD IDLI.

Ingredients:
10 Sandwich slices
2 Potatoes Boiled
8 T Curd
1 T Oil
1 t Mustard seeds
½ t Red Chilly powder
Salt to taste
Coriander finely chopped to Garnish

Add the chilli powder and salt to the boiled potatoes and mash it.

Add salt to the curd and mix well.

Heat oil in a pan (or a smaller utensil used for Tadka) and add the mustard seeds. Let it splutter and take off the stove.


To cut a slice into round you would require something circular which when placed over a slice will cover only the soft of the slice and not the edges. I normally use a glass or a sharp bowl for it.

On a cutting board place a slice of the bread and cut into circular using a glass, making sure edges are left behind. Similarly cut all the other slices


Apply a layer of potato mix on one side of the slice.


Heat the tawa and sprinkle few drops of oil. Place 2 potato covered slices at the center of the tawa, with their potato side down. Apply a generous coat of the Curd, making sure it doesn’t drip around.


This now needs to be covered with a lid making sure the lid doesn’t touch the bread. I use my pan lid for it.

After approx a min take off the lid and sprinkle ½ tsp of mustard oil mix over each bread and cover again. Cook till the potato layer is lightly roasted. Take it of the tawa and sprinkle some coriander leaves on it.


Serve hot with green chutney or tomato ketchup.

Now for the guessing part...there were a couple who guessed the ingredient, Curd, correct and the others guessed it as Idli. While Sripriya came closest with her Bread Idli guess!

Chilli Cheese Toast

GOSH! Don’t remember when was the last time I logged into my blog! Last 10 days have been so hectic. What when you have every possible thing turning up, keeping you extremely busy, except the maid. With the visiting guests...extra work load in office and in the middle of all this the Maid doesn’t turn up for one entire week, without any notice :(

Not as if I kept busy 24 hours a day...In whatever little time I got, I have been reading ‘The Three Mistakes of my Life’ by Chetan Bhagat.

The maid turned up yesterday, so I am much more relaxed now. Oh what if she doesn’t end up again today (Its already 11:30 am and she isn’t in as yet!)

But in those last 10 days I would be looking for quick easy to make snacks after returning from work...that would last me till I could fix the dinner. One of these instantly made snack is Chilli Cheese Sandwich.

This sandwich doesn’t call for any preparation time, is done instantly... and leaves a nice chilly taste. This must be a Chennai specialty. I hadn’t tasted this anywhere before...you can find it almost everywhere here. Makes for a perfect quick snack.

Ingredients:
4 Slices of Sandwich Bread
2 Slices of Cheddar Cheese
2 Green Chillies chopped

The pic is self explanatory. I folded the cheese slice at the edges to prevent it from flowing out when it melts.


Cover this with another slice. Similarly set other sandwich as well.
Heat the griller and place the sandwiches in.


Best enjoyed with some Potato Chips and Tomato ketchup.


Talking of it...My next post is going to be another quick snack.

Do you wanna take a guess at what this is? or what ingredients this calls for?

Bread, Can anything be simpler?

Last afternoon I was going through my bookmarked recipes, a bread recipe caught my fancy. Did I say Bread...naah, I meant the simplest bread recipe. There couldn’t be anything simpler than this. Very low chance of anybody going wrong on this one (I got it perfectly after all!). Oh BTW I was suppose to be trying pizza recipes, wasn’t I? Hmmm...that post is coming real soon too, since I have got a very good recipe for it.

Back to the bread...Have you ever thought what goes in making a bread …All Purpose flour (Maida) which is the basic ingredient, Yeast to make the dough rise, Salt for the taste and of course water to make a dough. This is where I would stop my thinking and would wonder what else goes in to making that perfect bread.

To my surprise that was all! Yes the 4 magical ingredients + some time and you are done. I came across this bread recipe on Siri’s corner and couldn’t believe that bread making could be so simple. You should also check out this, it has some very good lessons about bread making.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 All Purpose Flour (Maida)
1 tsp Active Dry Yeast
1 tsp Salt
½ + 1/4 Cup warm Water

In a bowl pour the ¼ cup water and add the yeast to this. Keep this to froth. Takes approximately 10 mins. Make sure the water is not too hot as this can destroy the yeast, it should just be warm enough to comfortably dip your finger in it.

In a mixing bowl sift the flour and add salt. Add the frothy yeast and ½ cup water. Form this into a dough. If required use some more water. We do not want the dough to be dry with lumps. Form nice soft dough for perfect bread.

On a lightly floured surface transfer the dough and knead till you get a smooth dough. This step takes around 10 mins.
What is the correct way to knead the bread dough, if this is the same question haunting you, you need not look any further. Check this video. Since Kneading is a very important step of bread making, it is important that you get this right,

Grease a big bowl with oil and transfer the dough in it. Pat some oil on the dough with your fingers. Cover with a cling film and keep it to rest in a dark, warm place. I always keep this in my microwave and if the weather is cool I heat the oven for a minute before placing the dough. Now see the yeast do its magic.


Wait till the dough has doubled. This has almost always taken 2 + hours for me.


Punch the dough down and knead again for 2 mins. This goes back again in the greased bowl and cover it. Let this rise for another 45 mins, it would be back to nearly double its size by now.


Take it out and shape roughly into a loaf. Make scores (cuts) with a sharp knife to help release the trapped gases. This will prevent the loaf from breaking. Preheat the Oven to 200 deg C.


Just before putting the loaf to bake I brushed egg yolk on top of the loaf. Bake it for 30 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.




I don’t remember when was the last time I was relishing the bread as it is. I ate 2 slices without any butter or anything. It was so damn tasty. I loved it. It was no different from the bread I buy from the store every week.

Til Chikki

I made Til Ki Chikki for everyone back home before leaving for Goa. This was my first attempt at making chikki...It was the simple recipe on Kailas Kitchen which got me into making it.

I followed her recipe word to word, hence am not posting the recipe. Just the final pic...


Vedict: Chikkis came out very crisp. Everybody at home loved the chikki, execpt that my MIL's tooth cap broke eating them ;)

My trip took me to Mumbai, Nasik and Pune before I actually reached Goa. We happened to be in Pune a day before the Ganesh festival. Huge pandaals were erected for the Sarvajink Ganesh...would have loved to click some pics, but the entire place was so crowded that standing at a place stationary to click a snap seemed quite a daunting task. I managed this one at a Ganesh shop


I visisted a few friends during the festival and clicked some pics...








On my way back via B'lore, was lucky to visit this sarvajanik Ganesh...

Healthy Breakfast..Some Movie bashing..Awards...Tags and a Break

Weekend Breakfast Blogging, WBB started by Nandita is one of my fav food blog event, as it emphasises on the importance of Breakfast. It is a known fact that Breakfast is the most important meal of the day...I really don't need to make a point about this. However even though we all know this...at times we land up skipping our breakfast. Sometimes it seems difficult to cook up an elaborate breakfast...but you don't need to. Even a fruit and some whole grain cereal with milk is also enough. Necessary is that Breakfast is taken...and taken on time.

The month of Aug sees the event being guest hosted by Latha of Masala Magic. She has come up with a wondeful theme 'WBB-Combi Breakfasts'.


A breakfast should contain protein and fiber. Hence I decided to cook Kaale chane and Daliya (Broken Wheat Porridge)...one of my family's traditional breakfast. Its very simple to make, is a very healthy option and doesn't call for much of preparation time.

Kaale Chane

Ingredients:
150 gm Black Chana
2 Green chillies finely chopped
1 T Oil
Pinch of Aesafoetida / Hing
1/4 tsp Jeera
1 tsp Red Chilli Powder
1/2 tsp Turmerica Powder
1 tsp Coriander powder
Salt to Taste
Juice of Half lemon
10 sprigs of Coriander

Wash the black chana and Soak it overnight. Add Salt and Pressure cook it till tender. Drain the water.

In a wok heat the oil and add hing and Jeera to it. Once it spluters add the green chillies, Red chilli powder, Turmeric powder, Coriander powder. Add the Black chana and mix well. let it cook for 3-4 mins. Add the lemon juice and coriander and mix well.



Daliya

Ingredients:
7 T Roasted Daliya (Broken Wheat)
200 ml Milk
1 1/2 T Sugar

Pressure cook the daliya with just enough water to cover it (Daliya gets cooked really fast, 2-3 whistles will be enough). Once the cooker cools down open the lid and add Sugar and milk to it. Wait for a boil and take off the stove.
Serve hot.




Now some movie bashing...Last Saturday nite after the shopping spree...Both of us felt like watching a movie. But where were we going to get tickets on Sat nite? Luckily for us (Later I ws going to realise how bad an idea this was) tickets were available for ‘Maan Gaye Mughale Azam’. After giving some thought we decided to book the tickets...afterall there were some credible names that of Rahul Bose, Kay Kay Menon, Mallika Sherawat (One cannot forget Pyar Ke Side effects and to an extent even in Ugly aur Pagli & Welcome), Paresh rawal, Pawan Malhotra associated with the movie.

Expecting some jokes funny enough to make you laugh is not asking for something big from a comedy film. From the promos one would never guess what one was for. I do not expect much logic from a Hindi Comedy film as long as they make me laugh...I enjoy them. But Logic was the director’s last concern it seemed. This was supposed to be a comedy film, but none of the jokes work. They are terrible to even smirk on. It is not as if there are no good jokes...But they come in so late, by that time you just don’t care.

After some time into the movie you realize this movie deals with the issue of terrorism in India and the Mumbai Blasts. Where is this heading, one would think?

In one particular interview the director of the movie had this comment to make ‘Paresh is the soul of the film, Rahul is the mind of the film, Mallika is the body of the film and Kay Kay is the shadow’.
Paresh definitely requires to do some soul searching before picking such scripts, such absent mindedness is not expected from an actor of Rahul Bose’s caliber with whom you associate credibility, Mallika definitely is the Body...I mean BODY only, least spoken the better about Kay Kay in the movie.

None of the actors seem interested...they sleep walk their roles. I wonder what made them take this film, were they threatened at gun point?? May be.

I could have walked out of the movie midway, like most did, if it was a bad one. But I had to sit thru because this was the worst movie I was watching and I had to know how bad a movie could get.
As I was going to publish this post...came across Rahul Bose's interview 'I admit Maan Gaye...was bad'. I wonder what is the point in giving this interview as we all already know it by now. If he really is not that kind of a person who will go on telling good because he is involved with the product, as he claims...I wonder why this particular interview was not given before the film's release. Could have saved us a lot of time and money :)

Awards...its been pouring awards everywhere in food blogs and I have been lucky to recive a few of them myself!

Usha and Suma have generously passed me the 'Beautiful Site Award' and 'Best Blog Dart Thinker Award'



Kitchen Flavors, Srilekha and Vidhya have passed me the 'Wylde Woman Award'


Health Nut Yasmeen has passed me the 'Brilliant Weblog Award'. Earlier passed to me by Srikar's Kitchen and Purva.


'Perfect Blend of Friendship' is passed onto me by Vidhya.



I have been tagged!
Dershana has tagged me with a poem on friendship.


We need friends for many reasons,all throughout the season.

We need friends to comfort uswhen we are sad,and to have fun with us when we are glad.

We need friends to give us good advice,

We need someone we can count on,and treat us nice.

We need friends to remember us once we have passed ;sharing memories that will always last.
Spread the poem of friendship 1.Everyday Life 2.Words of Love 3.Sheng's Simple Thoughts . . . 4.My Wonderful Life .... 5.Can of Thoughts 6.Designs By Vhiel 7.Vhiel's Corner 8.Anything and Everything in Between 9.A Mother's Stuff 10.Housewife at work 11.My Receipes 12.Vblogger 13.thefootloosechef 14.sizzling bites 15.You Next

I would like to pass this to
Jayasree
Uma
Usha
Vidhya
Yasmeen


Sireesha has tagged me for 7 facts abt me. It was nice knowing Sireesha through this meme.
The rules of the meme are:
(a) List these rules on your blog.
(b) Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog.
(c) Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.

7 Facts about me...

Work: My first job after completing B.E. was in HP exactly 3 years back and I continue to be in the same company.

Education: B.E. (I.T.) from Goa College of Engineering.

Friendship: Life has made it difficult to stay in touch with everybody, but I am definitely very much in touch with my close friends. We do meet whenever possible.

Relationship: I weigh the Relationships heavily. All of them are very important to me. I like to be surrounded by my near and dear ones.

Internet (WWW): I started using it when I got in college. Thanks to the WWW that we have these online communities which let us share our common interests.

Fitness: I like to walk and swim. I do not follow a fitness regime as much as I would have liked to. Every 10 days I come up with a plan and drop it by the 5th day

Dreams: I m not a dreamer, with my my eyes open that is. It is when I hit the sack that all the dreaming starts...But I never remeber any of them for more than 10 mins once I am awake. Only exception is the baking dreams I m getiing these days...I rem them clearly. Luckily for me they are not nightmares :)

Now this is not fair...There surely are more than 7 ppl people whom I would wish to know through this meme...For the sake of the rules I will pass this to 7 bloggers only :(
Bhawana
Dershana
Divya
Priyanka
Rajani
Suma
Sunshinemom

Sireesha and Divya have tagged me for the 'Booky meme'. I did this a couple of weeks back and have not been reading nything new lately. So I am linking it here.

Thank you ALL!


Now to the best part...The much needed...BREAK I m travelling back to Goa today, to celebrate my first Ganesh Chaturthi. I am looking forward to spending some quality time with family and getting to know the festival closely. I wish all of you a Happy Ganesh Chathurthi.

Happy Blogging!

Janmashtami

Janmashtami is celebrated as the day when Lord Vishnu took his eight avatar as Krishna. Born to Devki and Vasudev in Mathura on the eight day of the dark half (Krishna Paksha) of the month of Shravana of the Hindu calendar in a Prison cell at midnight. After the forecast that it would be Devki’s son who would kill Kans; he had them imprisoned on their wedding day. One after the other he killed all of Devki’s new borns. Then was born Krishna, who was smuggled out to the nearby Gokul village thru the Yamuna River by Vasudev. It was here that Krishna spent his early childhood as Nandalal's and Yashoda's son. When he was 10 he went back to Mathura, killed his maternal uncle Kans and released his parents from the prison. His teachings of Bhagavat Gita remain relevant till date.
Ever year on this day India sees the celebration of his Birth by fasting until midnight. The Hindu calendar being lunar, these two events [the day being the eighth of the waning moon and the Rohini Nakshatram being ascendent] may overlap more often than not. As a result, like most of the Hindu festivals, this too falls on 2 days quite commonly, making life difficult for us to decide which day to celebrate the festival.
When it comes to Janmashtami, at our place we have a simple rule; we celebrate it the day it is celebrated in Mathura’s Janmabhoomi temple, this was the place Lord Krishna was born. Mathura is also the place my family hails from. This year Janmashtami was on 23rd Aug so also on 24th Aug. I celebrated it on the 24th.
Fasting on this day is so common in North India that you would find small kids fasting till midnight too. I for myself remember fasting on this day since I was 10.

In Maharashtra on the occasion of Janmashtami, 'Dahi Handis' are organized; a handi, a clay pot, suspended high above the ground are set up locally in the city, and groups of youngsters, called Govinda Pathaks try to break the handis. The winning team walks away with the rewards.

Source: wikipedia

I have laddoo Gopal/ Bal Gopal at my place. Cucumber is considered a must in the Prasad offered to him along with Panchjiri that I made with Sugar, Coconut, Almonds, Cashew, and Cardamom.


Kootu is used extensively in the food prepared for fasting in North India.
I made Kootu Aaloo pokodi with Aaloo subji, Sabudana vada, Sabudana khichdi, Panchjiri, Dahi ke aaloo. Entire food was prepared with Rock Salt as this is the only form of salt used during fasting. Fasting for the entire day and cooking the meal...I didn't get the strength to take as many pics as I would have liked of the food prepared. Just took the final pic.



In this post I will share the recipe of Kootu ki Pakodi and Aaloo ki Subji

Kootu Ki Pakodi

Ingredients:
8 T Kootu flour
2 Potatoes peeled
1 tsp Black pepper powder
1 Green Chilly chopped
Rock Salt
Water
Oil for frying

In a bowl add the Green Chilly, Potatoes cut into 1/2 cm cubes, Black pepper, Salt and the Kootu flour. Mix this and add water as required to form a thick mix. In a wok heat the oil and drop the mix little by little. Fry till crisp.


Aalo Ki Subji

Ingredients:
2 Boiled potatoes peeled
1 Green Chilly chopped finely
1 T Oil
1/2 tsp Cumin seeds / Jeera
1 tsp Red Chili Powder
1/2 tsp Coriander powder
1/2 tsp Garam Masala
1/2 tsp Mango powder
Rock Salt
5 sprigs of Coriander chopped finely
200 ml Water

In a bowl put the potatoes and add the water, mash the potatoes into small pieces. In a wok heat the oil and add Jeera. Once it splutters add green chilly, Red Chilli powder, Coriander powder and salt. Add the potato and water mix. Boil to get the consistency you prefer (With Kootu ki pakodi watery gravy is preferred). Add Garam masala, Mango powder and coriander. Serve hot with Pakodis.


Update on Kuttu:
Kuttu is used extensively in Northern India to prepare food on fasting days.


Kuttu ka Atta can either we made by grinding the white seed or the Kuttu as it is with the hull. I use it with the hull...coz of the lovely color the hull imparts to the pakodis and also for the crispness it gives.



More info below on Kuttu from Wikipedia

Kuttu or Buckwheat or beech wheat, gets its name from its triangular seeds, which resemble the much larger seeds of the beech nut, and the fact that it is used like wheat. It is similar to sunflower seed, with a single white seed inside a hard dark brown/ black outer hull.

Buckwheat contains no gluten. Many bread-like preparations have been developed using Buckwheat. Buckwheat noodles are used extensively in the several international cuisines. The porridge made is also common. Buckwheat pancakes, sometimes raised with yeast, are eaten in several countries. The buckwheat flour gives them an earthy, mildly mushroom-like taste.

Buckwheat has also been used as a substitute for other grain in gluten free beer, in the same way as barley, to produce a malt

Medicinal use
Buckwheat contains rutin that strengthens capillary walls, reduces hemorrhaging in people with high blood pressure and increases microcirculation in people with chronic venous insufficiency

Buckwheat contains D-chiro-inositol, a component of the secondary messenger pathway for insulin signal transduction found to be deficient in Type II diabetes and Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS). It is being studied for use in treating Type II diabetes.

A buckwheat protein has been found to bind cholesterol tightly. It is being studied for reducing plasma cholesterol in people with an excess of this compound

Dudh Ki Seviyan

Raksha Bandhan...bond between a brother and a sister. On this day, sister ties a Rakhi on the wrist of the brother, praying for his long life while the Brother promises to protect the sister. This festival is celebrated across India irrespective of the religion. The belief in this festival can be estimated from the fact that the guys try not to venture outside on this day for the fear of being made somebody’s Rakhi brother ;)

Our current busy lifestyle has made it difficult to be with the family to celebrate the festivities…lucky are the sisters who get to be with their brothers on this day. For most of us thats not the case...to come over it I try to do things which we used to do together. This does give a feeling of oneness, doing the same thing even though we may be at different places.

One of such thing which we did year after year on this day was prepare Dudh ki Seviyan. This has been the tradition for as long as I can remember.

Ingredients:
500 ml Milk
1/4 Cup Roasted Vermicelli/ Seviyan
2 T Sugar
5-6 Almonds chopped
5-6 Cashew nuts chopped
2 Green Cardamom pods grounded

Put the milk to boil in a big vessel. After the first boil sim the gas and add the vermicelli, little by little and stirring continuously. Once all added cook on medium flame and add the cardamom. Keep stirring every 2 mins else it will stick to the bottom of the pot. Once the seviyan is cooked, add the finely chopped Almonds and Cashew nuts. Serve hot.


This month sees the start of 'Festive Food' Event by Purva and Priti. Thru this event foodblogers will celebrate the festivities of not only their region but all over the world.

First in the line is 'Festive Food Event: Rakhi – Thread of Love' hosted by Priti. My dudh ki seviyan go straight to this event.

Try, Try till you succeed

We need to eat our own words at times. Just in my last post I had mentioned the difficulty I faced because I had never baked in my life. The very next day I found myself making the best use of the Oven till date. How? I found a non stick iron pan that had come along with the microwave lying in the carton (huh...a free gift and I didn't even notice it, now I am really angry with myself). It was perfect for baking a Pizza. Since I did have a couple of recipes bookmarked...I was all ready.

This is how my Pizza came out.


Have a closer look...


I am not going to share the recipe right now...as I still need to perfect it. It had its own shortcomings and my oven is definitely going to make much more of Pizzas in the near future.

It was such a fantastic feeling eating my own baked bread. Although I should have used more flour then I did, should have left the flour to rise a lil more, should have used some more cheese on the Pizza.....and a lot more of these.

But I'm not complaining, neither was my husband. We enjoyed the Pizza to the last bite.

Watermelon Ginger Ale

When MBP for Aug: Fruit Fare, was announced little did I know it was going to be one difficult job; the idea of searching other blogs for a fruit recipe after all did not seem anything like that. I say this for several reasons. Firstly most of the fruit recipes I came across were baked; and I m yet to bake my first bread… I was still not yet prepared to take the plunge. Not as if I am not getting inspired enough from the fellow bloggers...I am indeed planning to bake soon one of the many bookmarked recipes, but I didn't have the baking dishes as I just didn’t feel the need. The remaining recipes either called for fruits which we don’t get here or are out of season.

I decided to do it the other way round…I picked a fruit I was going to use and started searching food blogs for recipes. I chose Watermelon coz its widely available here and is one of the few of my husband's and my common favourite fruit. My search took me to many blogs before I found the recipe which I was going to use in Nupur’s blog. I haven’t changed it much but for the quantity.


Watermelon Ginger Ale

¼ Watermelon
1 Lemon Juice
1 T Ginger chopped
3 T Sugar
1 Cup Water

In a pan combine the ginger, sugar and water. After the first boil, simmer for 20 minutes.
Cut the watermelon into small pieces and remove the seeds (Lucky are the people who can lay their hands on the seedless variety).


Blend it in a food processor. Transfer this in a pitcher, add the lemon juice and the cooled, strained ginger sugar syrup. Mix well.

Put some ice cubes in a glass and pour the Watermelon Ginger ale over the rocks ;)


This has such a wonderful taste to it. You need to try this one to experience it. A bit of it tastes like Sugarcane juice and a lot more something which I find difficult to put in words.

I had my own apprehensions towards Ginger so was skeptical and used only 1 T of it, though Nupur’s recipe called for a lot more (3/4 cup for ½ watermelon). I loved the taste of Ginger in it and am going to try with more ginger the next time.

This goes to Aparna who is guest hosting MBP:Fruit Fare this month. This wonderful event, Monthly Blog Patrol is the brainchild of Coffee.


Doesn’t this drink have a lovely red color to it. I am also sending this to 'Food in Colours' event started this month by SunshineMom of Tongue Ticklers wherein you are suppose to cook any dish of the color of the month.
The theme for Aug is FCI:Red.


It also goes to WYF: Colour in Food Event hosted @ Simple Indian Food



India's moment of glory at Olympics 2008 being held in China was provided by Abhinav Bindra.... Abhinav won India its first Gold Medal in an Individual event in Olympics. He made India and us Indians proud. Could this have been better timed...As India nears its 61st Independence Day. Abhinav has given us a reason to rejoice. Seeing him receive the Gold Medal made me wonder as to how calm and compose he was even after this big win, while the entire nation was celebrating his achievement. He returned back to India today early morning to a much deserving welcome. Soon the awards and accolades will follow. I hope he can continue his good form.

Meanwhile in the food blogging world too the awards are pouring in and I have been lucky that Sripriya of Srikar's Kitchen has passed me two of them.

Blogging Friends Forever


Brilliant Weblog Premio 2008 Award


Brilliant Weblog is given to sites and blogs that are smart and brilliant both in their content and their design.
Thank you Sripriya for passing these 2 wonderful awards to me...they being my first mean a lot to me.

I will pass them soon to fellow bloggers.

Update: Purva of Purva's Daawat has also passed me the Brilliaint Weblog Award. Dershana a dear friend has also passed me the Blogging Friends Forever Award.
Thanks!